Assad: ‘I have neither left Syria nor died’

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gesturing during an interview with Turkish television Ulusal and Aydinlik newspaper in Damascus on April 2, 2013. (AFP Photo / Presidency Media Office) / AFP

Syria’s president has disavowed all rumors of being in hiding somewhere in Iran or aboard a Russian battleship. In an interview to Turkish TV, Bashar Assad accused the Turkish government of being “knee-deep in Syrian blood.”

“I am in Syria living in the same place I always did. I am
not hiding in a bunker. Everything said about my death or
disappearance is rumors launched by enemies to shutter the morale
of the Syrian people,” Assad stated in an interview to Turkey’s
Ulusal Kanal TV channel published Friday.

"The Arab League lacks legitimacy itself," Assad pointed
out. “This organization represents Arab states, not the Arab
people. When we were working in this organization we saw it
ourselves. The League can neither endow anybody with statutory
powers nor strip anybody of them. The role of the organization is
symbolic,” Assad revealed.

“Legitimacy is given or taken by the people only… If Syrian
people endowed you with legitimacy, then you’re the legitimate
president,” Assad shared.

'Chaos to engulf region if Syria falls’

An imposed change of power in Syria would have negative and
dangerous consequences for the whole Middle East region, warned
Assad.

“It is a well-known fact that Syria is divided. If terrorists
take the country under control, that would immediately have an
impact on the neighboring countries,” he said.

“In that case a ‘domino effect’ would influence countries
situated far from the Middle East, to the west, east, north and
south. An instability created would last for many years and even
decades,” Assad predicted.

The Syrian crisis is not a local issue, he insists. Syria has
become a battlefield for international heavyweights which are
redrawing the map of the region.

Assad believes the creation of BRICS economic alliance became a
game-changer, stripping the US of the status of the only pole of
power.

“Other countries now have to take into consideration the
opinion of BRICS members states,” he claimed.

Assad assured that Syria is not getting direct support from
BRICS countries, but the organization vows for stability in the
region: “That is why BRICS opposes the West in Syria and calls
for political settlement of the crisis in the country.”

‘Our neighbors back terrorists’

Assad condemned neighboring countries which assist terrorists to
get into Syria.

"We are surrounded by countries enabling terrorists to
infiltrate Syria. Certainly, not all of them are doing it
intentionally. For example Iraq is against the infiltration of
terrorists into Syria, but it is in special circumstances, being
unable to control its borders. On the other hand, various factions
in Lebanon help militants to infiltrate Syria,” Assad said,
adding that militants are also crossing the Syrian border from
Jordan, whereas Turkey's government is “officially harboring
terrorists and is sending them into Syria.”

Ankara has been using Qatari money to arm and pay Islamist
radicals to wage war in Syria, Assad acknowledged.

He lashed out at Turkey's prime minister, saying his former
friend Tayyip Erdogan "has not uttered a single truthful word
since Syria plunged into the crisis."

“The Turkish government is knee-deep in Syrian blood, “
Assad said adding that "the fire in Syria will eventually burn
Turkey. Unfortunately, [Erdogan] does not see this
reality".

The fighting in Syria continues to escalate as the Syrian
government’s troops battle opposition forces in the districts
neighboring the capital, Damascus, according to the latest reports
by local media.